Your Story #118
Write the opening line to a story based on the photo prompt below. (One sentence only.) You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.
Prompt: Write the opening line to a story based on the prompt above. (One sentence only.) You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc. It is, after all, your story.
Email your submission to yourstorycontest@aimmedia.com with the subject line "Your Story 118."
No attachments, please. Include your name and mailing address. Entries without a name or mailing address with be disqualified.
Unfortunately, we cannot respond to every entry we receive, due to volume. No confirmation emails will be sent out to confirm receipt of submission. But be assured all submissions received before entry deadline are considered carefully. Official Rules.
Entry Deadline: June 30, 2022
Out of almost 150 entries, WD editors chose the following 12 finalists. Vote for your favorite entry using the poll at the bottom of the page.
1. The manager of the country club finally fired that groundskeeper when he saw a tree growing in what was the 18th hole.
2. I’ve always known I was an outcast, but on this particularly sunny day, I could feel it all the way down to my roots.
3. The museum grew quiet as the curtains opened, revealing the hermetically sealed viewing glass, and beyond was the tree, the only living tree left alive on Earth.
4. Their bodies would never be found, he thought, as long as he kept on watering and protecting the lone young tree, but shuddered when little fingers began sprouting among the new shoots.
5. My grandpa told me the story, only once, of where it all started and where it all ended: just south of the lone tree growing where nothing should live.
6. They say a tree grows in Brooklyn, but I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Brooklyn anymore.
7. He was so close to the lush, green grass that lay ahead, and yet he stood still, his feet buried in the dirt surrounding him, afraid to pull his roots from the ground and run.
8. Last one standing is not much of a consolation; though I must admit it's nice to finally have a view.
9. Looking down from her hospital window, she wondered if that solitary tree felt as alone as she did.
10. I carved a circle around Brutus’ tree and told ’em it was aliens.
11. Her microscope revealed a tiny elm, and in its shadow the visage of her father.
12. After years of creating and maintaining his own crop circle, Burford surmised that a focal point might draw the attention of the extraterrestrials and finally bring them to Alien Acres.
Since obtaining her MFA in fiction, Moriah Richard has worked with over 100 authors to help them achieve their publication dreams. As the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, she spearheads the world-building column Building Better Worlds, a 2023 Eddie & Ozzie Award winner. She also runs the Flash Fiction February Challenge on the WD blog, encouraging writers to pen one microstory a day over the course of the month and share their work with other participants. As a reader, Moriah is most interested in horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just about anything with a great hook.
Learn more about Moriah on her personal website.
